Baby Faced Curse
by Boo2020
Summary: Apollo grows a beard - or tries to - in order to look like the adult he is. Originally written for (you guessed it) the PWKM.


"Hey, Apollo. I think you've got some dirt on your face or something."

Apollo reached up to wipe at his face. "Did I get it?"

"No, it's still there." Phoenix squinted at him from across the room. "Oh. You know what? Never mind, it's gone."

"Wait! What was that 'oh' for?"

"What? Nothing."

"Mr. Wright. You do have a tell you know. Your poker playing days have been over for a while now, and I can see that you're lying."

"What's my tell?" Phoenix asked casually, looking back down at his paperwork. "I'll need to work on hiding it."

Apollo knew his boss wasn't going to bother telling him, whether or not he could see that he was lying. Luckily for him, he always kept a hand mirror in his desk drawer, just in case his hair needed some fixing up during the day. He pulled it out and examined himself. Maybe Mr. Wright needed glasses, because he couldn't see any dirt on his face.

He ran his fingers over the very sparse amount of facial hair that was on his cheeks. He'd decided to grow it out since he was already 23 and people still mistook him for a teenager. He was constantly IDed when trying to order alcohol anywhere, but that wasn't _too_ bad. It was when a client would first meet with him and right away ask "are you even old enough to be a lawyer?" in a tone implying they thought he didn't have enough experience or was incompetent at his job because of how young he looked. Some clients could be so ungrateful.

He figured growing some facial hair would make him look older. After all, Mr. Wright had constantly been unshaven when Apollo first met him, and it easily made him look a few years older, especially when Apollo compared his now clean shaven boss to the man he first met as a client.

"Hey, Mr. Wright?"

"Yes?" He didn't even look up from his paperwork.

"Have you ever grown a beard? An actual beard, not just some stubble."

Phoenix looked up, eyebrows raised. "Can't say that I have. I like to look presentable as a lawyer."

"What about when you were disbarred?"

"Nah. I just don't think I'd look good with one," he said, going back to his paperwork.

"Do you think _I'd_ look good with a nice, manly beard?"

Phoenix set his pen down again and looked at Apollo. "Why are you asking? Are you trying to grow one for some reason?"

Apollo leaned back in his chair, a light blush on his cheeks. "You can't tell? I've already started!"

"Oh."

"Don't tell me you didn't notice."

Phoenix didn't want to embarrass the poor boy, but he asked. "Sorry, I kinda just thought you didn't wash your face properly this morning."

"Gah! This is like a week and a half's worth of growth!"

"Really?"

"Yes…"

"Huh."

Apollo pursed his lips. "So back when you were disbarred, how often did you shave? Every few weeks right?"

Oh sweet innocent Apollo. "No, every few _days_ was more like it, depending on how lazy I was, or uh, if I was expecting company. I never really went longer than two weeks at the most without shaving, and now that I'm working again I do it pretty much every day, or every other day if I think I can get away with it."

Apollo glanced at his reflection in his mirror again and sighed. "I was hoping it'd make me look older, but apparently it just makes me look like I didn't shower this morning."

"Sorry," Phoenix tried to suppress his smile but wasn't totally successful. "You're young. It'll grow in nice eventually."

"I'm 23, Mr. Wright."

"Well you don't look a day over 20."

"That's the problem!" Apollo exclaimed. "People don't even think I'm qualified to be a lawyer because of how young I look! Athena is only 18 but she never gets those sorts of comments!"

"I don't get what sort of comments?" Athena said as she walked back into the office from her turn cleaning the bathroom. She looked back and forth between her coworker and boss. "What are you guys talking about?"

Apollo put his mirror down and sat back in his chair. "Nothing."

"Apollo wants to grow a beard," Phoenix blurted, not noticing how Apollo's face flamed in embarrassment.

Athena looked at Apollo. "Really? Why?"

"He thinks it'll make him look older," Phoenix answered her again.

Apollo looked exasperated. "Mr. Wright, _please_."

Athena grinned, and then looked at Apollo, scrutinizing his face. "I don't think you would look good with a beard, Apollo."

"Why not?" Apollo huffed.

"I just don't think it would match you, you know? Like, Mr. Wright, he looked muy caliente back when he had the whole hobo chic look going on," Athena commented, as if Phoenix wasn't sitting right there. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled embarrassedly as she continued. "But imagine, say, Mr. Edgeworth with a beard? It would look so weird, right? That's what it's like when I think of you with a beard. It just seems wrong."

Apollo thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess."

"Besides, you're already cute!" Athena said.

Apollo just looked even more downcast at that. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Thanks, but I don't want to look _cute_ ," he pouted. " _Kids_ are cute."

"It probably doesn't help that you're pretty short, too, right?" Phoenix said casually.

Apollo stared daggers at his boss. "You're not helping my self-esteem here, Mr. Wright."

Phoenix shrugged. "You should be glad you're still getting IDed and people think you're younger than you are. Once you get older you start to wish that sort of thing still happened." He thought for a moment. "Although, I have to say, when I was 24 I didn't get IDed all that often, unless I was with Maya. She looked really young so people always asked for _my_ ID too, in case I was the same age as her."

Athena grinned. "I bet Miss Fey still gets IDed."

Phoenix nodded. "Sometimes, but apparently they don't really have a drinking age over in Khura'in where she is now so it never happens there. You should ask her for advice next time she visits, Apollo."

Apollo looked frightened at the mere thought of asking Maya for advice. How Mr. Wright could handle that girl for any longer than an hour or two at a time, he didn't know. "I'm not that desperate."

"I probably shouldn't be saying this as a lawyer to my lawyer co-worker and lawyer boss, but I've successfully snuck into a few clubs with my older friends without even having to use my fake… er… never mind. I guess I've just gotten lucky!" Athena announced.

Apollo exchanged a look with Phoenix. "Well, possibly, Athena, but um… no offense but your um… _assets_ do make you seem a bit older than you are." He coughed into his fist awkwardly. "I mean you can easily pass for 21."

Athena's hands flew to her face. "Oh no! Unlike you I don't _want_ to look old!"

Apollo flailed his hands. "No, no! You don't look _old_ , just old _er_. And I don't want to look old either, but old _enough_ that people aren't constantly commenting on how young I look! You would think more of our clients would be happy a defense attorney even wants to take their case and yet so many of them insist on making fun of me!"

Athena leaned against his desk. "Aw, Apollo. It's not all bad. Go ahead and try to grow one if you want, but I personally think you'll look better without." She paused and squinted at him. "By the way, I'm not sure if you noticed but you have some dirt on your face, you might want to wash that off."

Apollo groaned and looked over at Phoenix, who was attempting not to laugh. "Mr. Wright, do you have a razor I can borrow?"

"There should be a package of disposable razors under the sink in the bathroom upstairs, go ahead up there and use one if you want."

Apollo stood and trudged towards the door leading to the apartments upstairs. Athena looked back and forth between him and Phoenix confusedly. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Apollo called behind him.

Athena looked to Phoenix for an answer again, who smiled and shrugged. "He was already trying to grow it," he said, grinning at her. "That wasn't dirt."

"Oh no. Apollo!" she yelled up the stairs after him. "I'm so sorry! Your beard looks really great! Super manly!"

All she got in reply was a growl of frustration, and when Apollo came back downstairs a few minutes later, his smooth baby face was marred only by his unhappy frown.


End file.
